ELECTRICITY bills across Sussex are to be cut. Seeboard announced today that it is reducing the cost of electricity by up to ten per cent from April.

And in a shake-up of payments, standing charges are being dropped from bills. The price cuts means the average Seeboard customer will save about £10 a year. The move follows a warning from industry regulators that Seeboard and other power suppliers must cut bills. And it comes as the electricity market opens up to competition. Peter Hofman Seeboard's energy supply director, said: "This latest ten per cent price reduction means that we have dropped prices by over 30 per cent in real terms during the past six years. "This has allowed us to return £600 million to our customers." Seeboard supplies electricity to half a million customers across Sussex. The annual bill of a typical customer using 3,500 units will fall by £10.37 this year. Southern Electric, which supplies part of West Sussex, including Bognor, Arundel, Chichester, Billingshurst and Midhurst, says it will be announcing price cuts next week. Seeboard is also introducing a free telephone helpline and extending the opening hours of its customer services offices to cover evenings and weekends. Until now, standing charges have been paid by customers for the infrastructure supplying electricity to their homes. But from April, customers will contribute towards metering and billing costs by paying an extra 3.39p per unit for the first two or three units of electricity they use each day. Mr Hofman said: "All our recent research shows that our customers want to see the end of the standing charge. We've listened to them. We are going to abolish it from April." Watchdog group the Electricity Consumers' Committee welcomed the abolition of standing charges, but said not all customers would feel the full benefit of price cuts. Chairman Pauline Ashley said: "Nearly all customers will gain, but some more than others. "Very few will get Seeboard's near ten per cent cut, but about half will see their bill fall by seven per cent in money terms. "The gain depends on the tariff chosen and the level of consumption."

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